WELCOME TO THIS SITUATION: Interviews from ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival

(Ori Flomin, right, watches his dancers perform in his workshop.) We spent a fantastic day at the ImPulsTanz Dance Festival in Vienna, Austria on July 22nd, during the first week of the festival, and we’re absolutely thrilled to share our interviews from the day! In between taking movement workshops in the morning, observing a workshop dedicated […]

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We spent a fantastic day at the ImPulsTanz Dance Festival in Vienna, Austria on July 22nd, during the first week of the festival, and we’re absolutely thrilled to share our interviews from the day! In between taking movement workshops in the morning, observing a workshop dedicated to the work of Tino Sehgal in the afternoon and seeing Simon Mayer’s “Sons of Sissy” performance at night, we spent time speaking to participants and artists on site. Below is a run-down of our interviews (just click “more”), including approximate start times in the recording. Remember they take place on site at the festival, so you’ll hear lively background noise (and even some beautiful opera during Ray Chung’s)!

Minute 22:00 – Ori Flomin taught the morning movement workshop that Jessica took, “The Energetic Body through Dance and Meridians.” We spoke to him about the meridian theory upon which he bases much of his choreography and teaching as well as the origin of his choreographic style and even his favorite “element” (you’ll have to listen to understand!). Originally from Israel, Ori has been creating and presenting his choreography extensively in New York, Europe and Asia. He is currently an Adjunct Faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts in New York City.

44:00 – Adam Naughton participated in both Ori Flomin’s movement workshop in the morning and the fascinating presentation of Tino Sehgal “The Situation” that we observed in the afternoon. He helped us better understand Tino Sehgal’s piece and shared his thoughts on learning to move with an awareness of meridians and elements. Adam attended ImPulsTanz with a small group of emerging choreographers who were selected to participate in workshops for the entire festival.

55:40 – Ray Chung taught the Contact Improvisation workshop that Clara took, “Riding the Curve of Space.” In this interview he shared how he became involved in contact improvisation (including the role of “jams”), the key principles that make contact unique, and how he engages beginners in the technique. Ray has worked with Contact Improvisation since 1979 as part of improvisational performance practice. He integrates other movement forms into his work, including martial arts, bodywork and Authentic Movement.

1:04:00 – Christian Apschner, who took Ray Chung’s contact improvisation class and would later teach “Contemporary Contact Ballroom” in week 4, talked to us about making a career of contact improvisation after working as an environmental engineer for many years. Christian is co-founder of the Vienna-based rollingpoint association for Contact Improvisation and related dance and movement forms. He developed what he has termed “three-dimensional flow movement sequences.”